New releases
THE IRON DUKE – Meljean Brook
After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power — and fear — of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.
Mina can’t afford his interest, however. Horde blood runs through her veins, and despite the nanotech enhancing her body, she barely scratches out a living in London society. Becoming Rhys’s lover would destroy both her career and her family, yet the investigation prevents her from avoiding him…and the Iron Duke’s ruthless pursuit makes him difficult to resist.
But when Mina uncovers the victim’s identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans — and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.
Read an excerpt.
GAMBIT – Kim Knox
Captain Chae Beyon is a hustler, a mercenary pilot, a wounded woman who prefers her men to be easily thrown aside.
Daned Traern is a first-caste Ladaian bound by tradition and DNA to protect his race. He’s willing to align himself with the hot space captain if she’ll transport him home in time to ensure the right candidate is crowned—and thus prevent a bloody war.
Disguised as Chae’s sex toy, Daned is erotically bound to her through living gold, alien tech designed to increase pleasure. When he frees himself, their passion only increases…but succumbing to temptation will bind them together—permanently.
But there’s more at stake than their needs. As Chae is dragged into a world of insane princes and sentient stones, hired killers hound them across the quadrant.
And then, as only her lousy luck would have it, Chae must choose between the good of the galaxy and her own heart…
Read an excerpt. For more information about GAMBIT, see my recent interview with Kim Knox.
TRUE BELIEVERS – Maria Zannini
Mix one cynical immortal and one true believer and throw them into the biggest alien-hunt the world has never known.
Rachel Cruz is a Nephilim masquerading as an archeologist and she's stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods.
Black Ops wants to find these gods too. They want them dead.
Sales
Diane Dooley sold a romantic SF novella to Carina Press! The (working) title is BLUE GALAXY. Read the announcement post here.
Sweet Cover
Gini Koch recently unveiled the cover for ALIEN IN THE FAMILY, the third book in her Alien series. Click here to see all the Technicolor glory of cover artist Dan Dos Santos. For more coverage, debut SFR author Diane Dooley recently blogged about Gini Koch’s covers here.
A contest to watch
The November issue of RT Book Reviews has a feature on Writing with the Stars, RT & Brava’s 2011 Writing Competition. I scanned the feature of ten finalists, my hopes not all that high given the low profile science fiction romance has in major contests.
But stop the press! Writing with the Stars has one finalist with a science fiction romance story!
KC Klein is the scribe behind DARK FUTURE, a “sexy futuristic time travel.” (Which reminds me…remember my recent post on time travel romances?). She describes her reaction to the news about finaling in The Ugly Truth at If You Give a Girl a Pen….
Let’s support KC Klein by voting online for her story. Voting begins on October 11, 2010, at RTBookReviews.com. Click here (scroll down) for the “online voting overview.”
Galaxy Express passenger Maria Zannini also made the cut with her historical romance, MISTRESS OF STONE. Good luck to all of the finalists!
eBook news
At Dear Author, you can discover What’s Coming Next for eBooks?
Cool science
At Alien Romances, Margaret L. Carter delivers news of Robot Skin:Would a robot that can process several kinds of sensory input, including touch, and can pass the Turing test (carrying on a conversation that can't be distinguished from talking to a human being) -- a big step we haven't reached yet -- deserve to be classified as "human"? What would it take for an artificial intelligence to become entitled to "human rights"?
Catherine Asaro explored this very issue in SUNRISE ALLEY and its sequel, ALPHA. I think the news has implicationsuses for future science fiction romances featuring androids, robots, etc..
Steampunk Romance
Read quotes from early reviews of Pauline B. Jones’ TANGLED IN TIME steampunk romance novella (L&L Dreamspell). Here’s a snippet: "Jones packs a wallop of a story in Tangled in Time. Humor and suspense abound in a tale filled with action and suspense. The diversity between Carey and Olivia in manner and speaking is portrayed with engaging wit and the chemistry between the two is fun and highly entertaining. Fans of Jones will recognize favorite characters from The Key and Girl Gone Nova, an added bonus. This novella will appeal to readers across genres, offering romance, suspense, and mystery all wrapped up in an intriguing Sci-Fi plot that grabs the reader from beginning to end." Midwest Book Review
A new blog called Steamed! features all kinds of articles on “writing steampunk fiction.”
Here’s an interesting one called “A Case for Steaminess in Steampunk” by Theresa Meyers: While the Victorian era was indeed a little more straight-laced about the kinds of affections that could be touted in public, we must remember that this is steampunk. Perhaps being a little steamier requires us to be a little more punk about our perceptions of the era and let those relationships out in the open.
After all, if a woman can wear her undergarments on the outside without steampunk social circles batting an eyelash, why should we not have more steaminess in our steampunk stories?
Well said, and I think it dovetails nicely with my previous article at Dear Author, The Case for Steampunk Romance.
Now it’s your turn at the mike. Have any science fiction romance news or links to share?
Joyfully yours,
Heather